St. Joseph Province

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Our Spirituality

Prayer +

Prayer is the heart of our Dominican life. Prayer is about staying connected. It is guaranteed to bring about change. Why? Everything is seen in a new light! A prayerful community helps us see everything, and everybody, that surrounds us, including what's often overlooked as well as the obvious.

Community +

Community helps us stay connected with God. it gives us companions for praying and helps us remember what really matters - our own lives, and the life of everything else that exists on this planet.

Study +

The primary object of Dominican study is the Word of God, which comes to us through Scripture & Tradition, is interpreted authoritatively by the Church’s Magisterium, and Whose fullest manifestation is the very Person of Christ Himself. The purpose of Dominican study is to make us useful to the souls of our neighbors. It is a spiritual work of mercy aimed at facilitating a more effective communication of the truth that saves. While knowledge can certainly be sought for its own sake, study is all the more noble and virtuous when one is motivated by the dual command of love of God and love of neighbor.

Preaching +

Preaching is at the heart of Dominican life because we were founded to be “useful to the souls of others,” and we make ourselves useful primarily through our ministry to the Word of God. Our common life, our study and our prayer are all geared to support the vocation of a preacher. For us preaching takes many forms. We preach from the pulpit during liturgy and at retreats, but we also consider our teaching and various kinds of pastoral care to be ways in which we bring the healing Word of God to bear on the lives of those we serve. Our preaching ministry takes us to parishes, university campuses, retreat centers and sometimes even to food pantries, shelters for the homeless and other places where people are impoverished literally as well as spiritually.

I’m sure that there are many – even some within the Church – who find it odd that we “celebrate” something as inanimate as a “chair!” Yet, even in our “corporate world” we refer to the head of a business as “the chair” of this or that company. St. Peter, a simple fisherman, and one who said – when pushed to the wall – “I don’t know the man you’re talking about!” (Matthew 26:70 ff) has to remember what Jesus said to him some times back, “You are ‘Rock’ and upon you I will build my church!” (Matthew 16:18)

If we were going to produce a “contemporary gospel” we’d probably refer to him as “Rocky” so that readers would be more able to realize that saints start out as rough-cut gems with all kinds of imperfections. Peter certainly fits the bill in this sense. In today’s Holy Gospel we have to be careful not to simply read it as an historical story – that only applied to the disciples – but see those words addressed to each of us: “But YOU who do YOU say that I am?” (Mathew 16:15 )

The saving factor in this – for all of us just like it was for the Apostles – is that we only gradually get to the point of awareness over time and by staying close to Jesus. Today’s Feast is different from most of saint’s feasts in that it’s not focused on just one person. The fact that power came to the apostles while they were hiding in the locked upper room out of fear points this out. And, when the Resurrected Jesus appeared to them His perfect love cast out all their fear and allowed the Holy Spirit to “re-create” them and give them the ability to say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) When we try to translate this into how it applies to our own lives we have to be careful not to think that the Apostles were instantaneously changed into walking saints. Yes! The power of God was upon them but they still had to walk on rough ground and gradually come to that deep awareness and belief in Jesus. That’s why I love to use the name, “Rocky” since it keeps us well grounded as we struggle to be all that God wants us to be. All of us we are precious jewels but not all together ready to be set in the crown. So this might be our song for today: “From glory to glory He’s changing me from earthly things to the heavenly…”

Thank you, St. Rocky!

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